Notes
Sunday 10 January 2021 - Saturday 16 January 2021
[Notebook: DB 86 Hilbert/Minkowski]
[page 11]
Sunday 10 January 2021
Is it time to turn back from this hopeless adventure or press on? Press on, of course. The past is all known, nothing new to see. Something interesting may be in the future and since its arrival is inevitable, there is no extra cost in going on.
It is easy to conclude that from a scientific point of view the biggest load of bullshit in the world is the Christian History of Salvation, and we do not have a lot of hope until this is rooted out and replaced with the scientific history of creation.
Weinberg page 1: Wigner: 'particle - representative of the inhomogeneous [Lorentz] group', ie an inhabitant of spacetime. 'In this book we start with particles and get to wave equations later. Is the initial singularity a particle? Yes. In the layered world, therefore, particles define space rather than space defines particles! Steven Weinberg (1995): The Quantum Theory of Fields Volume I: Foundations
'what we know about particles is more certain.'
Note: ultimately universe must be defined non-constructively [since there is no omniscient omnipotent creator in charge of intelligent design. All possibilities explored, only contradictions selected out].
page 3: 'It only later became clear that relativistic wave mechanics in the sense of a relativistic quantum theory of a fixed number of particles in an impossibility.'
So, like the ancient trinity, we must begin with representation and the creation and annihilation of particle, images of the initial singularity. Here we have a shadow of the particulate vacuum [and creation and annihilation occur at all energy scales, since (eg) microwave photons create and annihilate close electronic states].
[page 12]
In de Broglie's relativistic model the group velocity of the wave is equal to the particle velocity (given the assumptions of special relativity).
Weinberg page 31: 'Quantum field theory deals with fields that destroy and create particles at a spacetime point x.
Classical point electrons have infinite electromagnetic self mass and this carried over into quantum theory. Infinity problems arise because space is considered continuous down to radius a → 0.
page 33: 'Throughout the 1930s these various infinities were seen not merely as failures of specific calculations. Rather they seemed to indicate a gap in the understanding of relativistic quantum field theory at the most fundamental level' [even though it was a classical problem!]. Yes, I might say because they are misunderstanding the relationship between representation of particles in Hilbert space and the representation in Minkowski space. But What? [They have different metrics, one measures probability the other distance, which need to be mapped to one another, which might be a thermodynamic thing.]
page 34 Renormalization: '. . . it was already known that in any Lorentz invariant classical theory the electromagnetic self energy and self momentum of an electron must take the form of corrections to the mass of the electron, hence the infinities in these quantities can be cancelled by a negative infinity in the 'bare' non electromagnetic mass of the electron, leaving a finite measurable 'renormalized mass'. And you think the theologians are mad! Lamb shift. Lamb shift - Wikipedia
page 35: Shelter Island 1947 brought some experimental physicists into the mix. Lamb described his experiment.
[page 13]
Weinberg page 36: Magnetic moment of electron greater than Dirac value and these two result 'convinced physicists of the reality of radiative corrections' [radiative superpositions].
page 37: 'With the publication of Dyson's papers there was at last a general and systematic formalism that physicists could easily learn to use, and that would provide a common language for the subsequent applications of quantum field theory to the problems of physics.' F. J. Dyson: The Radiation Theories of Tomonaga, Schwinger and Feynman
In effect the renormalization theory 'sweeping the difficulties of the divergences of electrodynamics under the rug' has hidden the need for a radically new theory. Feynman, Nobel Lecture. Richard P. Feynman: Nobel Lecture: The Development of the Space-Time View of Quantum Electrodynamics
Weinberg page 38: 'When the revolution came in the late 1940s, it was made by physicists who though mostly young were playing the conservative role, turning away from the search by their predecessors for a radical solution.'
page 49: 'The point of view of this book is that quantum field theory is the way it is because (with certain qualifications) it is the only way to reconcile quantum mechanics with special relativity. Therefore our first task is to study how symmetries like the Lorentz invariance appear in a quantum setting.'
My dream, of course, is to explain how the linear quantum theory in Hilbert space explains the properties of Minkowski space and that this approach will remove the very messy features of quantum field theory that embed Hilbert space in Minkowski space rather than the other way round, and my progress in this direction will be summarized in e23_hilbert_to_minkowski. Of course there is a good chance that I will get nowhere but forlorn hope and necessity may mother invention.
[page 14]
Weinberg page 49: 2.1 Quantum mechanics
' i. Physical states are represented by rays in Hilbert space. . . . A ray is a set of normalized vectors, ie (ψ, ψ) = 1, with ψ and ψ' belonging to the same ray if ψ' = ξ ψ where ξ is an arbitrary complex number with |ξ| = 1.'
page 50: ' ii Observables are represented by Hermitian operators which map Hilbert space into itself.' Given ℵ0 operators we may permutes the operators and get ℵ1 mappings of Hilbert space into itself.
iii: Born Rule
2.2 Symmetries
Monday 11 January 2021
Post hoc non ergo propter hoc. In quantum mechanics we are inclined to explain selection rules by their consequences such as the involvement of the velocity of light in the spin-statistics theorem that gives rise to the addition and subtraction of state vectors in the case of bosons and fermions. We may look at this from the opposite direction, and say where there is no control equiprobable events will occur equiprobably, so, since there are two possibilities for linear quantum superposition, both these possibilities will be realized and so we have fermions and bosons whose behaviour is in some way coupled to the velocity of light and causality. Streater & Wightman: PCT, Spin, Statistics and All That
We may think of space-time as the operating system of the universe taking care of data storage and communication using particles.
[page 15]
From this point of view we may see Hilbert space as the site of actual process and communication underlying space-time. This needs to be expressed as computationally useful mathematical model based on linear operators that work on particle vectors in Hilbert space [so what I am trying to do is express a scientific interpretation based on the actual point of view of nature in the space-time layer which lies above the quantum amplitude layer].
Tuesday 12 January 2021
Weinberg page 50: 2.1 Symmetries
'A symmetry transformation is a change in our point of view that does not change the results of possible experiments,' ie it is a meaningless change . Whereas we would like our science to make meaningful statements which it attempts to do by general covariance, ie statements which remain true from every point of view [like the velocity of light], eg we write the laws so their application is precisely identical to every human being.
Quantum mechanical realities are considered to be probabilities. 'If an observer O sees a system in a state represented by ray R or R1, R2, . . . then an equivalent observer O' who looks at the same system will observe it in a different state, represented by a ray R' or R'1, R'2, but the two observers must find the same probabilities P(R1 - Rn) = P(R'1 - R'n)
Symmetry is in effect an 'artificial' creation of observation. It depend on who is looking and what they see and the notion of general covariance is an attempt to remove the observer from the picture although in fact every picture is a reality based on the point of view which in effect breaks the symmetry.
[page 18]
The question is how to the quantum symmetries with respect to probability translate into Lorentz symmetries with respect to relative velocity [which is a concept that only has meaning in space-time]? Inertial motion of itself has minimal information content. The fun starts when we compare one inertial motion to another, revealing [Lorentz transformation] and geodesic deviation. What we seek is a Hilbert space explanation for geodesic deviance which must be a communication / observation thing. We communicate by observing one another [but inertial frames in a gravitational field do not feel acceleration].
The formalism of quantum mechanics describes the nature of events and the probability of correlations between events by a measure of the 'distance' between them by the Born metric. The distance between tautologies is zero [which is a symmetry which may be expressed in many different forms of words]; the distance between contradictions [may be] infinite so their correlation is zero.
Spacetime is a point of view (application) of Hilbert space which is the reality underlying spacetime. Wigner: every particle is a point of view and all contribute to defining one another as we do, defining one another through gossip and other interactions, trying to control our definitions by human symmetry, human rights, fair trial and the rule of law. We see all these constraints on the nature of particles acting in nature. What I see in you is a transformed representation of myself, and the application of social general covariance is an attempt to see you as you really are [in some way released from my particular point of view - this insight fits the network model].
[page 17]
Spooky action at a distance works in the amplitude world, but does not carry information because the inputs and outputs are observations [with random inputs and outputs]. Quantum observation is like insight where a complete space of possibilities is narrowed down to one as happens to the roulette ball when it no longer has enough energy to jump from sector to sector. So we might say that determinism corresponds to zero energy = formalism as when the die stops spinning on the table.
Observation moves from dynamism to stasis. Does this explain the role of the eigenvalue equation, identifying potential fixed points in the motion of amplitudes?
Energy corresponds to random motion in a gas, for instance, and the Carnot engine extracts fixed points of zero entropy mechanical energy end in effect discards the entropy/randomness [to the cold source, since it is reversible, is conserves entropy.
Energy corresponds to random motion in a gas [controlled by conservation of energy and momentum], and the carnot [heat] engine extracts fixed points of zero entropy mechanical energy and in effect discards the entropy / randomness [to the cold source].
What we are saying here is that points of view are real and contribute to the complexity of the universe, but that they are controlled by the underlying reality [symmetry] which is being observed from the point of view so when I am looking at a valley and call it a hill I can be said to be exercising free speech but I can also be said to be wrong. This is where physical empiricism comes in. If I set out to cross the valley I say I see I will be hindered or at least surprised when I see it is a hill. Here we meet Mill's distinction between free speech and free action. Peter Ives: Why 'free speech' needs a new definition in the age of the internet and Trump tweets
Free speech nevertheless provides us with an opportunity to assess the
[page 18]
attitudes of the speakers about what they would do if they had the opportunity to turn their speech into action. It is very clear that Mr Trump and the GOP wished to become a one party dictatorship [like his mate Putin and antagonist Xi] and we must be thankful that the general incompetence greatly reduced the power to destroy the democratic system which was defended by the courts and the bureaucracy [the rule of law, reinforced by oath].
In a similar vein, the statistical predictions of quantum mechanics tell us what quantum systems will do when given access to action in spacetime.
Quantum observation increases entropy (von Neumann) whereas unitary process is reversible so observation (ie symmetry breaking) is the creative process in the universe, This gets us back to scientific-theology. John von Neumann: The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, chapter V:3
Hilbert_to_Minkowski - Wigner's Theorem Wigner's theorem - Wikipedia
Wednesday 13 January 2021
Thursday 14 January 2021
The measure of action is not its rate (ie its energy, E = hf) but simply the total count of the quanta involved, so we say H = nh where h is the measure of one quantum and H is the measure of a more complex action (eg having a baby vs absorbing a photon, a package of action with no mass but energy nevertheless and momentum). How does this work.
All we need to make gravitation is energy, no particles, and closure, convexity, compactness and
[page 19]
continuity (equivalent to nothing) reflecting the boundaries of the set (a fixed property) to a fixed point in the set, what we might call a tautology (mathematical proof), so the boundaries of the universe and the vast number of ways it can map itself onto itself gives us the vast number of particles we see in the universe, a consequence of the Wigner application of group theory to the universe which is a group since every interaction within it leads to a result that is also a member of the universe [and we would like to find a connection between this idea and the 4D nature of spacetime, serving as a means to establish the orthogonal network connections to make all these mappings, and the consequent particles, independent of one another].
We think electromagnetism is a bit exotic but perhaps it is simply a property of energy. No: we need particles to multiply the force of gravity by 1040. This has got to be an exponential software thing.
The divine problem: making a universe out of nothing, that is out of god [aka initial singularity, actus (entelecheia) purus] The only rule we have is variation (by dodgy reproduction) and selection by the elimination of contradiction. Variation driven by energy [the force behind reproduction, m = E/c2] and selection by superposition [zeroing out contradictory states] and Hermitian Hamiltonian operators.
I have been through all this before and got nowhere but it must be something like this, energy bubbles creating particles networked by four classes of bosons]. Boson - Wikipedia, Martinus Veltman: Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics pp. 161 sqq.
So the best I can do is outline the principles I have dreamt up and try to make some code that implements them all and see what it does. The heuristic of simplicity suggests that I may be able to get the first steps going.
The universe is a group starting with nop and not implemented in ever
[page 20]
increasing circle groups of matrices. Maybe we can implement something equivalent to a differential manifold using the tools of quantum mechanics in Hilbert space (which, I think, Wigner has done). This would get us from Hilbert to Minkowski, which is where we want to go. Go and read Feynman III:8-9 again. Feynman: Lecture on Physics III:08
Can we work out of this construction is possible on entropy / complexity grounds [the cardinal of Hilbert space is ℵ0 whereas Minkowski is ℵ1]?
Is there magic in the creation of the world? Yes, Orthogonality is required for independent existence so as the number of particles inevitably increases by self action of the initial singularity the number [that actually exist] can only increase if we can find ways to be orthogonal by frequency / time and momentum / space differences. All we have to do is replace infinite self interaction with infinite self reproduction. Where does the infinite mass [-energy] of a zero-sized particle come from? In a way this is going so well that I have no motivation to speed it up or formally document it.
In other words the magic is in the representation and making things real, ie clear and distinct. This holds both in mind [Descartes] and in physics, given that physics and mind pretty much follow the same metaphysical rules which is the foundation of cognitive cosmology. Existence = differentiation
The fundamental eror is to identify intelligence with spirituality, immateriality and absolute simplicity. Thomistic thesis 18:
[page 21]
Immaterialitatem necessario sequitur intellectualitas, et ita quidem,
ut secundum gradus elongationis a materia sint quoque gradus
intellectualitatis. Adaequatum intellectionis obiectum est communiter
ipsum ens; proprium vero intellectus humani in praesenti statu
unionis, quidditatibus abstractis a condicionibus materialibus
continetur.
Immateriality is a necessary consequence of intellect, and the
level of intellect is measured by its distance from matter. In
general, the proper object of intellect is being itself; the proper
object of the human intellect in the present state of union with the
body is the essences of things abstracted from their relationship to
matter. Denzinger & Schoenmetzer: Enchiridion Symbolorum, Definitionum et Declarationum de Rebus Fidei et Morum §3618
Friday 15 January 2021
Money and orthogonality [discrete accounts]: Barrett. Orthogonality is the root of structure and degrees of freedom. Unitarity is the fundamental constraint on the degrees of freedom in quantum transformations reflected in the normalization of probabilities. Ultimately there is but one universe [so that the absolute sum of the probabilities of all the quantum events on the life of the universe is 1?] Jonathan Barrett: Government funds are not 'taxpayer money' — media and politicians should stop confusing the two
The spreading of waves is the creation of entropy.
CSN Teach Your Children: I was fortunate to grow up in an era of great music ranging from Gregorian Chant to all the great bands that are now slowly dying off as they move into their seventies and eighties. This music introduced us to the new world which we are now trying to consolidate with law and science [in the face of dying old white imperial privilege].
[page 22]
I have not cried since my family left me but now I am because I have seen my mission is to translate the music of my ageing contemporaries into a credible theological picture of the divine universe we inhabit.
From a letter to a friend:
Thankyou so much for your letter and your slightly creepy photograph with bright red lips and a pure white eye. I am sending you a wet tulip in return. I am not sure what it means, but it is just another beautiful part of our divine world. Every now and then while I am digging around in quantum mechanics and the ancient theological ideas I am trying to replace I like to stop and look at how beautiful the visible god really is - you and the flowers are parts of it all.
Saturday 16 January 2020
The root of my theological empire is the proposition physics ≡ theology to be built around quantum theology which is the theology of representation, since in the cartesian terminology, a quantum is like an integer, or a unit, a clear and distinct idea. From my point of view the dream stems from the fact that I feel like a theologian (Andrew Farrell). Andrew Farrell: How Australia Got Its Mojo
Quantum theology sounds like a trite title, but it does capture the zeitgeist and seems to unify the spectrum of ideas that has been lighting up my mind since the 60s when I first began to mingle computation and intelligence and came up
[page 23]
with 'How Universal". The plan, as ever, is to try to bring the core hypothesis physics ≡ theology more clearly into the light and better grounded in the known facts. I have a headful of bits and pieces of the story and this will be another year of effort to arrive more closely at the truth that I began to feel when I became acquainted with Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle, powerful pioneers. They may have placed too much emphasis on logic in the absence of careful experimentation, but it is now gratifying to feel that quantum computation and communication are reviving our interest in the logical structure of reality and pointing the way to cognitive cosmology and a new representation of the historic omniscient and omnipotent god, now illustrated in in incredible images from nanometres to light years, richest in the field of life. A Theory Of Peace 1987 Lecture 1: Mathematical Theology
A fundamental question for physics, considered by Wigner, is why do mathematical calculations work in physics? In physics we use real and complex numbers but all the mathematical arguments that we use to define these numbers begin from arithmetic [and logic] and the natural numbers developed by set theory and the next step to rational numbers relies on division which we find is not included in the ring of integers so it requires the algebraic invention of the inverse of multiplication. [So] the need for real numbers depends on the inverse of exponentiation and the extension to complex numbers depends on the algebraic search for solutions to polynomials and the need to extract roots of [negative] integers. Going in the opposite direction, pioneered by Whitehead and Russell and common in software engineering is the creation or the arithmetic of the natural numbers from logic. So the question arises: does the universe itself follow this same trail of invention to produce the complex exponentials central to its mathematical treatment of periodic (wave) functions? Whitehead & Russell: Principia Mathematica - Volume One
[page 24]
The paragraph above is the consequence of lying down for quarter of an hour, which seems to be just as productive as taking a walk to dream up ideas to be recorded on my phone. The hard part, as in accountancy, is to dream up the matrix of the necessary calculation and cogitation, and once this is in place the final wrap up may just be an arithmetic computation. Is this what Einstein discovered when he perceived that the Lorentz transformation is the key to special relativity and that tensor calculus in a differential manifold lays out the structure for arithmetical calculations in general relativity? The Hilbert / Minkowski / general relativity question may have a simple arithmetic answer (a bit like Feynman diagrams and path integrals) once we have reached the correct formal framework in which to do the calculations. It seems to be that the foundation of such calculation depends upon dreaming up a logical network analogous or better isomorphic, to the way discrete quanta of action interact in nature. Group theory and Yang-mulls must hold a few clues her.
Sherlock Holmes relied on logic rather than arithmetic to solved his problems and it would be nice to think that the same methodology would apply in cognitive cosmology. Babur, on the other hand, could solve a lot of his problems by killing so many of the people who stood in his way as to convince the remainder to do what he wanted them to do, which was, in general, to hand over their land, wealth and women to him. Zahiru'd-din Mohammad Babur: The Babu Nama
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Further readingBooks
Babur, Zahiru'd-din Mohammad, and Annette Susannah Beveridge (Translator) and William Dalrymple (Introduction), The Babur Nama, Knopf / Penguin Random House 2020 Jacket: 'Zahiru'd-din Mohammad Babu (1485-1530) a poet-prince from central Asia, was the first Mughal emperor and author of one of the most remarkable autobiographies in world Literature. The Babur Nama reveals its author as not only a military genius but also a ruler unusually magnanimous for his time, cultured, witty and possessing a talent for poetry, an adventurous spirit and an acute eye for natural beauty.'
Amazon
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Chaitin, Gregory J, Algorithmic Information Theory, Cambridge UP 1987 Foreword: 'The crucial fact here is that there exist symbolic objects (i.e., texts) which are "algorithmically inexplicable", i.e., cannot be specified by any text shorter than themselves. Since texts of this sort have the properties associated with random sequences of classical probability theory, the theory of describability developed . . . in the present work yields a very interesting new view of the notion of randomness.' J T Schwartz
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Denzinger, Henricus, and Adolphus Schoenmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, Definitionum et Declarationum de Rebus Fidei et Morum, Herder 1963 Introduction: 'Dubium non est quin praeter s. Scripturam cuique theologo summe desiderandus sit etiam liber manualis quo contineantur edicta Magisterii ecclesiastici eaque saltem maioris momenti, et quo ope variorim indicum quaerenti aperiantur eorum materiae.' (3)
'There is no doubt that in addition to holy Scripture, every theologian also needs a handbook which contains at least the more important edicts of the Magisterium of the Church, indexed in a way which makes them easy to find.' back |
Dumas, Alexandre, and Sarah Ardizzone (translator), The Story of a Nutcracker, Vintage Classics 2015 ' "For all its darkness, [The Nutcracker] appeals to parents and their children because it's like one of those glowing glass globes that you can shake and see the snow swirl. It's a dream bubble, a vision of middle-class happiness and fantasy that precedes the Russian Revolution and all the horrors of the last century and this one. That world may have faded, but it is still our sweetest dream." (New York Times) '
Amazon
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Grandin, Temple, Emergence: Labeled Autistic, Warner Books 1996 Amazon Product Description
'A true story that is both uniquely moving and exceptionally inspiring, Emergence is the first-hand account of a courageous autistic woman who beat the odds and cured herself. As a child, Temple Grandin was forced to leave her "normal" school and enroll in a school for autistic children. This searingly honest account captures the isolation and fears suffered by autistics and their families and the quiet strength of one woman who insisted on a miracle.'
Amazon
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Grandin, Temple, Thinking in Pictures, Expanded Edition: My Life with Autism , Vintage 2006
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Khinchin, Aleksandr Yakovlevich, Mathematical Foundations of Information Theory (translated by P A Silvermann and M D Friedman), Dover 1957 Jacket: 'The first comprehensive introduction to information theory, this book places the work begun by Shannon and continued by McMillan, Feinstein and Khinchin on a rigorous mathematical basis. For the first time, mathematicians, statisticians, physicists, cyberneticists and communications engineers are offered a lucid, comprehensive introduction to this rapidly growing field.'
Amazon
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Streater, Raymond F, and Arthur S Wightman, PCT, Spin, Statistics and All That, Princeton University Press 2000 Amazon product description: 'PCT, Spin and Statistics, and All That is the classic summary of and introduction to the achievements of Axiomatic Quantum Field Theory. This theory gives precise mathematical responses to questions like: What is a quantized field? What are the physically indispensable attributes of a quantized field? Furthermore, Axiomatic Field Theory shows that a number of physically important predictions of quantum field theory are mathematical consequences of the axioms. Here Raymond Streater and Arthur Wightman treat only results that can be rigorously proved, and these are presented in an elegant style that makes them available to a broad range of physics and theoretical mathematics.'
Amazon
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Veltman, Martinus, Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics, World Scientific 2003 'Introduction: The twentieth century has seen an enormous progress in physics. The fundamental physics of the first half of the century was dominated by the theory of relativity, Einstein's theory of gravitation and the theory of quantum mechanics. The second half of the century saw the rise of elementary particle physics. . . . Through this development there has been a subtle change in point of view. In Einstein's theory space and time play an overwhelming dominant role. . . . The view that we would like to defend can perhaps best be explaned by an analogy. To us, space-time and the laws of quantum mechanics are like the decor, the setting of a play. The elementary articles are the actors, and physics is what they do. . . . Thus in this book the elementary particles are the central objects.'
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Weinberg (1995), Steven, The Quantum Theory of Fields Volume I: Foundations, Cambridge University Press 1995 Jacket: 'After a brief historical outline, the book begins anew with the principles about which we are most certain, relativity and quantum mechanics, and then the properties of particles that follow from these principles. Quantum field theory then emerges from this as a natural consequence. The classic calculations of quantum electrodynamics are presented in a thoroughly modern way, showing the use of path integrals and dimensional regularization. The account of renormalization theory reflects the changes in our view of quantum field theory since the advent of effective field theories. The book's scope extends beyond quantum elelctrodynamics to elementary partricle physics and nuclear physics. It contains much original material, and is peppered with examples and insights drawn from the author's experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Problems are included at the end of each chapter. '
Amazon
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Whitehead, Alfred North, and Bertrand Russell, Principia Mathematica - Volume One, Merchant Books 2009 Amazon customer review: 'A landmark book
Principia Mathematica is a landmark book on the elements of mathematics. This edition is the best price I have seen in decades.
Both Whitehead and Russell are known for their insights into philosophy and mathematics. This book, although a mathematics book, is based upon their philosophy of how the universe works. The basic assumption of this book is that symbolic logic can be used to describe the universe. From that starting point they develop the elements of modern mathematics.
This book is meant for those of us nerds who want to understand why mathematics works and how it relates to a philosophy of the universe. Note that this book is heavy on mathematical symbols (which are explained). It can be slow reading, but Whitehead and Russell's insights are stunning.' R. Abramovitz
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Papers
Goedel, Kurt, "On formally undecidable problems of Principia Mathematica and related systems I", in Solomon Fefferman et al (eds), Kurt Goedel: Collected Works Volume 1 Publications 1929-1936, , New York, OUP, 1986, page 145-195. back |
Yus, Eva, et al, "Impact of Genome Reduction on Bacterial Metabolism and its Regulation", Science, 326, 5957, 27 November 2009, page 1263-1268. 'To understand basic principles of bacterial metabolism organization and regulation, but also the impact of genome size, we systematically studied one of the smallest bacteria, Mycoplasma pneumoniae. A manually curated metabolic network of 189 reactions catalyzed by 129 enzymes allowed the design of a defined, minimal medium with 19 essential nutrients. More than 1300 growth curves were recorded in the presence of various nutrient concentrations. Measurements of biomass indicators, metabolites, and 13C-glucose experiments provided information on directionality, fluxes, and energetics; integration with transcription profiling enabled the global analysis of metabolic regulation. Compared with more complex bacteria, the M. pneumoniae metabolic network has a more linear topology and contains a higher fraction of multifunctional enzymes; general features such as metabolite concentrations, cellular energetics, adaptability, and global gene expression responses are similar, however.'. back |
Links
Abdullah Sahin, Let's tap into Islam's heritage of critical education to defeat extremism in schools, 'The heart of the problem is the predominance of an indoctrinatory approach to learning and teaching about Islam. This confines Islamic education to uncritical transmission of a revered set of texts. This form of Islamic education is exploited by extremist recruiters in both majority and minority Muslim societies.
Islam has a rich heritage of critical education and shares with Abrahamic faiths the prophetic educational teachings that call for continuous self-examination, so that the faithful remain balanced in their religious observance.' back |
Alan Turing, On Computable Numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem, 'The "computable" numbers may be described briefly as the real numbers whose expressions as a decimal are calculable by some finite means. Although the subject of this paper is ostensibly the computable numbers, it is almost equally easy to define and investigate computable functions of an integral variable of a real or computable variable, computable predicates and so forth. . . . ' back |
Andrew Farrell, How Australia Got Its Mojo, ' Gruen's Russel Howcroft tells the story of two of Australia's greatest admen - Alan 'Mo' Morris and Allan 'Jo' Johnston the creatives behind some of the most iconic ads of the 70s and 80s that helped define Australia.' back |
Anthony Domestico, An Improbable Education, ' In The Education, Adams is interested in many things—history, architecture, theology, gender—but he also knows that these interests don’t matter a jot until stylized, aestheticized, made meaningful: “The pen works for itself, and acts like a hand, modelling the plastic material over and over again to the form that suits it best. The form is never arbitrary, but is a sort of growth like crystallization.” ' back |
Anthony Lane, David Bowie in the Movies, 'What David Bowie knows now, and what Narnia awaits him in the wardrobe, none can tell. But his life, unlike most lives, had the shape and the refulgence of a movie, and we can watch it again and again.' back |
Bevan Shields, Spin doctors and marketing gurus cleap up with taxpayer-funded advertising, 'Spin doctors, market researchers and advertising gurus are cleaning up from taxpayer-funded government advertising, reaping tens of millions of dollars before an ad even appears on televisions or in newspapers.
In some cases, three-quarters of the total bill for "public information campaigns" has gone towards the creative process.' back |
Boson - Wikipedia, Boson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In particle physics, bosons are particles with an integer spin, as opposed to fermions which have half-integer spin. From a behaviour point of view, fermions are particles that obey the Fermi-Dirac statistics while bosons are particles that obey the Bose-Einstein statistics. They may be either elementary, like the photon, or composite, as mesons. All force carrier particles are bosons. They are named after Satyendra Nath Bose. In contrast to fermions, several bosons can occupy the same quantum state. Thus, bosons with the same energy can occupy the same place in space.' back |
Brumm, Oktaviana, Burhan & Aubert, We found the oldest known cave painting of animals in a secret Indonesian valley, ' The dating of an exceptionally old cave painting of animals that was found recently on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is reported in our paper out today.
The painting portrays images of the Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis), which is a small (40-85kg) short-legged wild boar endemic to the island.
Dating to at least 45,500 years ago, this cave painting may be the oldest depiction of the animal world, and possibly the earliest figurative art (an image that resembles the thing it is intended to represent), yet uncovered.' back |
Caitlin Syme, Ammonite; the remarkable science of Mary Anning and her fossils, ' Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809.
Her discoveries included the first complete Icthyosaurus (although it was her little brother who first stumbled across the skull, Anning spent the next year excavating and preparing the rest of the fossil), the first complete Plesiosaurus and subsequent plesiosaur species, a perfectly preserved belemnite complete with anterior sheath and inkbag, and the first pterodactyl Dimorphodon.' back |
David Brooks, The Brutalism of Ted Cruz, 'The case reveals something interesting about Cruz’s character. Ted Cruz is now running strongly among evangelical voters, especially in Iowa. But in his career and public presentation Cruz is a stranger to most of what would generally be considered the Christian virtues: humility, mercy, compassion and grace. Cruz’s behavior in the Haley case is almost the dictionary definition of pharisaism: an overzealous application of the letter of the law in a way that violates the spirit of the law, as well as fairness and mercy.' back |
David Brooks, Trump Ignites a War Within the Church, ' On the one hand, there are those who are doubling down on their Trump fanaticism and their delusion that a Biden presidency will destroy America.
“I rebuke the news in the name of Jesus. We ask that this false garbage come to an end,” the conservative pastor Tim Remington preached from the pulpit in Idaho on Sunday. “It’s the lies, communism, socialism.” . . . On the other hand, many Trump supporters have been shaken to the core by the sight of a sacrilegious mob blasting Christian pop music and chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” ' back |
Diophantine equation - Wikipedia, Diophantine equation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In mathematics, a Diophantine equation is a polynomial equation, usually in two or more unknowns, such that only the integer solutions are sought or studied (an integer solution is a solution such that all the unknowns take integer values). A linear Diophantine equation is an equation between two sums of monomials of degree zero or one. An exponential Diophantine equation is one in which exponents on terms can be unknowns.
Diophantine problems have fewer equations than unknown variables and involve finding integers that work correctly for all equations. In more technical language, they define an algebraic curve, algebraic surface, or more general object, and ask about the lattice points on it.' back |
Erik P Verlinde, The Origins of gravity and the Laws of Newton, 'Starting from first principles and general assumptions Newton's law of gravitation is shown to arise naturally and unavoidably in a theory in which space is emergent through a holographic scenario. Gravity is explained as an entropic force caused by changes in the information associated with the positions of material bodies. A relativistic generalization of the presented arguments directly leads to the Einstein equations. When space is emergent even Newton's law of inertia needs to be explained. The equivalence principle leads us to conclude that it is actually this law of inertia whose origin is entropic.' back |
F. J. Dyson, The Radiation Theories of Tomonaga, Schwinger and Feynman, ' Abstract A unified development of the subject of quantum electrodynamics is outlined, embodying the main features both of the Tomonaga-Schwinger and of the Feynman radiation theory. The theory is carried to a point further than that reached by these authors, in the discussion of higher order radiative reactions and vacuum polarization phenomena. However, the theory of these higher order processes is a program rather than a definitive theory, since no general proof of the convergence of these effects is attempted. The chief results obtained are (a) a demonstration of the equivalence of the Feynman and Schwinger theories, and (b) a considerable simplification of the procedure involved in applying the Schwinger theory to particular problems, the simplification being the greater the more complicated the problem.' back |
Feynman, Leighton & Sands FLP III:08, Chapter 8: The Hamiltonian Matrix, 'One problem then in describing nature is to find a suitable representation for the base states. But that’s only the beginning. We still want to be able to say what “happens.” If we know the “condition” of the world at one moment, we would like to know the condition at a later moment. So we also have to find the laws that determine how things change with time. We now address ourselves to this second part of the framework of quantum mechanics—how states change with time.' back |
Hilbert's tenth problem - Wikipedia, Hilbert's tenth problem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Hilbert's tenth problem is the tenth on the list of Hilbert's problems of 1900. Its statement is as follows:
Given a Diophantine equation with any number of unknown quantities and with rational integral numerical coefficients: To devise a process according to which it can be determined in a finite number of operations whether the equation is solvable in rational integers.
It took many years for the problem to be solved with a negative answer. Today, it is known that no such algorithm exists in the general case because of the Matiyasevich/MDRP theorem that states that recursively enumerable sets are equivalent to diophantine sets. This result is the combined work of Martin Davis, Yuri Matiyasevich, Hilary Putnam and Julia Robinson[1] which spans 21 years, with Yuri Matiyasevich completing the theorem in 1970 back |
Jeffrey Shallit, Science, Pseudoscience and The Three Stages of Truth, The oldest quote which I have been able to find that suggests truth goes through several stages is due to the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860), who wrote in 1818
Der Wahrheit ist allerzeit nur ein kurzes Siegesfest beschieden, zwischen den beiden langen Zeitra ̈umen, wo sie als Paradox verdammt und als Trivial gering gescha ̈tzt wird.
which is translated as follows:
To truth only a brief celebration of victory is allowed between the two long periods during which it is condemned as paradoxical, or disparaged as trivial.'
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Johannes Kepler - Wikipedia, Johannes Kepler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Johannes Kepler (. . . December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. These works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.' back |
John von Neumann, The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, ' Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics by John von Neumann translated from the German by Robert T. Beyer (New Edition) edited by Nicholas A. Wheeler. Princeton UP Princeton & Oxford.
Preface: ' This book is the realization of my long-held intention to someday use the resources of TEX to produce a more easily read version of Robert T. Beyer’s authorized English translation (Princeton University Press, 1955) of John von Neumann’s classic Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik (Springer, 1932).'This content downloaded from 129.127.145.240 on Sat, 30 May 2020 22:38:31 UTC
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Jonathan Barrett, Government funds are not 'taxpayer money' — media and politicians should stop confusing the two, ' These legal rules and processes determine what is mine and what belongs to the government. Broadly, we are free to deal with our own property as we see fit — and the government is too.
Media and progressive politicians should stop perpetuating the untruth that taxpayers retain some residual property interest in the taxes they pay. Taxpayer money is nothing more than their after-tax property and the government’s money is its own. back |
Kurt Gödel I, On formally undecidable propositions of Principia Mathematica and related systems, I, The classic paper, part I. back |
Lamb shift - Wikipedia, Lamb shift - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'In physics, the Lamb shift, named after Willis Lamb (1913–2008), is a difference in energy between two energy levels 2S½ and 2P½ (in term symbol notation) of the hydrogen atom which was not predicted by the Dirac equation, according to which these states should have the same energy.
Interaction between vacuum energy fluctuations and the hydrogen electron in these different orbitals is the cause of the Lamb Shift, as was shown subsequent to its discovery.' back |
Laurie Goodstein and Kimika de Freytas-Kimura, Anglican Church Disciplines U.S. EpiscopalsOver Gay Marriage, 'After 13 years of rancor over conflicting views on homosexuality, the archbishops of the Anglican Communion have voted to impose sanctions for three years on the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Communion, for its decision last summer to allow clergy to perform same-sex marriages, church officials said Thursday.' back |
Leonard Susskind, The World as a Hologram, 'According to 't Hooft the combination of quantum mechanics and gravity requires the three dimensional world to be an image of data that can be stored on a two dimensional projection much like a holographic image. The two dimensional description only requires one discrete degree of freedom per Planck area and yet it is rich enough to describe all three dimensional phenomena. After outlining 't Hooft's proposal I give a preliminary informal description of how it may be implemented. One finds a basic requirement that particles must grow in size as their momenta are increased far above the Planck scale. The consequences for high energy particle collisions are described. The phenomena of particle growth with momentum was previously discussed in the context of string theory and was related to information spreading near black hole horizons. The considerations of this paper indicate that the effect is much more rapid at all but the earliest times. In fact the rate of spreading is found to saturate the bound from causality. Finally we consider string theory as a possible realization of 't Hooft's idea. The light front lattice string model of Klebanov and Susskind is reviewed and its similarities with the holographic theory are demonstrated. The agreement between the two requires unproven but plausible assumptions about the nonperturbative behavior of string theory. Very similar ideas to those in this paper have been long held by Charles Thorn.' back |
Lisa Cox, Western Australis LNG plant faces calls to shut down until faulty carbon capture system is fixed, ' In 2018, the Australia Institute estimated that the delayed commencement of carbon capture and storage at Gorgon had been responsible for half of the increase in Australia’s annual emissions.
Mark Ogge, a principal adviser at the Australia Institute, said the Morrison government had given Chevron $60m for CCS “with no penalties attached for failure”, while the WA government had shifted the goalposts to allow the company to vent carbon dioxide “without any consequence”. . . .
“The government should be closing down Gorgon until the company can sequester the emissions as it is required to for the project to operate.” ' back |
Lisa Murkowski nd Jay Faison, Stop Wasting America's Hydropower Potential, 'Hydropower harnesses the force of flowing water to generate electricity. It already produces about 6 percent of the nation’s electricity and nearly half of its renewable energy, more than wind and solar combined. This is enough electricity to power 30 million homes and, according to the Department of Energy, avoids some 200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. That amounts to taking about 40 million cars off the road for one year.' back |
Lorna Knowles, Child abuse survivor Gina Swannell wins compensation after speaking out against Catholic Church, 'When Ms Swannell spoke out publicly last year she said people needed to know how the Church was treating sexual abuse victims.
"People need to know that what is happening behind closed doors is not what they are saying to the public," she said at the time.
"They are saying all the right things but they're not doing it. Behind closed doors, they've changed nothing.
"They're doing exactly the same — deny then crucify." ' back |
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Saudi Arabia's Reckless Extremism, Mohammad Javad Zarif is the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 'Iran has no desire to escalate tension in the region. We need unity to confront the threats posed by extremists. Ever since the first days after his election, the president and I have indicated publicly and privately our readiness to engage in dialogue, promote stability and combat destabilizing extremism. This has fallen on deaf ears in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi leadership must now make a choice: They can continue supporting extremists and promoting sectarian hatred; or they can opt to play a constructive role in promoting regional stability. We hope that reason will prevail.' back |
Paul Moses, Piety, Populists, 'Patriots', ' Taken together, LifeSiteNews and Church Militant garnered nearly 10 million visits to their alt-right “news” websites during the last three months of 2020—a pair of powerful platforms that helped spread bogus election-conspiracy claims to a huge Catholic audience.
Along with other far-right websites that cater to Catholics, they pulled out the stops for President Donald Trump, even as he incited his followers to storm the Capitol on January 6. In the midst of the violence, their coverage was promotional; Church Militant went so far as to use Catholic imagery to glorify the rioters. Afterward, there were no apologies.' back |
Peter Ives, Why 'free speech' needs a new definition in the age of the internet and Trump tweets, ' English philosopher and economist J.S. Mill’s classic defence of freedom of speech includes a limitation directly relevant to the siege of the Capitol. In his philosophical treatise On Liberty, Mill notes that action cannot be as free as speech. He immediately provides the example of speech in front of angry mob that could incite violence. Mill contends that such speech should not count as free speech but is action, and when harmful should be regulated. . . . Trump’s angry mob was not just incited by his single speech on Jan. 6, but had been fomenting for a long time online. The faith in reason held by Mill and Kant was premised on the printing press; free speech should be re-examined in the context of the internet and social media.' back |
Philip Soos, How Australian households Became the most indebted in the world, 'Australia has around $2 trillion in unconsolidated household debt relative to $1.6 trillion in GDP. Australia’s ratio is 123.08%, while Denmark’s fell slightly to 122.99% in the third quarter of 2015, a marginal difference of 9 basis points. Although Denmark holds the record in terms of peak debt of 140.14% in the last quarter of 2009, as Australia continues to leverage and Denmark deleverages the current gap between the two will widen. Apart from Switzerland (which alongside Denmark has a negative interest rate), no other country is close in terms of having such extreme household sector debts. The UK ratio is 85.9% while in the US it is 79.1%.' back |
Richard P. Feynman, Nobel Lecture: The Development of the Space-Time View of Quantum Electrodynamics, Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1965: 'We have a habit in writing articles published in scientific journals to make the work as finished as possible, to cover all the tracks, to not worry about the blind alleys or to describe how you had the wrong idea first, and so on. So there isn't any place to publish, in a dignified manner, what you actually did in order to get to do the work, although, there has been in these days, some interest in this kind of thing. Since winning the prize is a personal thing, I thought I could be excused in this particular situation, if I were to talk personally about my relationship to quantum electrodynamics, rather than to discuss the subject itself in a refined and finished fashion. Furthermore, since there are three people who have won the prize in physics, if they are all going to be talking about quantum electrodynamics itself, one might become bored with the subject. So, what I would like to tell you about today are the sequence of events, really the sequence of ideas, which occurred, and by which I finally came out the other end with an unsolved problem for which I ultimately received a prize.' back |
Robert Frodeman and Adam Briggle, When Philosophy Lost Its Way, 'Yet despite the richness and variety of these accounts, all of them pass over a momentous turning point: the locating of philosophy within a modern institution (the research university) in the late 19th century. This institutionalization of philosophy made it into a discipline that could be seriously pursued only in an academic setting. This fact represents one of the enduring failures of contemporary philosophy.' back |
SadyDoyle, Orgasmic design: how vibrators have become ambitious tech products, 'The vibrator’s long, slow march from taboo to mainstream (and maybe even cool) has been all about figuring out what exactly women want' back |
Wigner's theorem - Wikipedia, Wigner's theorem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Wigner's theorem, proved by Eugene Wigner in 1931, is a cornerstone of the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics. The theorem specifies how physical symmetries such as rotations, translations, and CPT are represented on the Hilbert space of states.
According to the theorem, any symmetry transformation of ray space is represented by a linear and unitary or antilinear and antiunitary transformation of Hilbert space. The representation of a symmetry group on Hilbert space is either an ordinary representation or a projective representation. back |
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